Author Topic: Nailed by a stingray today.  (Read 8984 times)

Zooport

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Nailed by a stingray today.
« on: December 26, 2013, 03:09:52 PM »
Weirdest thing today.  I was SUSing off of the power plant in Huntington Beach.  Was punching through some minor whitewater prone, with feet dangling off of the board and a ray got me...mid-water not on the bottom.  Right in the top of my foot and I did not step on it.  Was lying on my board getting situated to stand up.  I have been nailed before but I stepped right on it that time.  Hurts like crazy!

Has anyone heard of anyone getting stung without stepping on a ray before?  Also, I thought that the stingrays were only around in the summer.  Could it be a scorpion fish, which we have here, or something else?  
« Last Edit: December 26, 2013, 03:13:35 PM by WaterOnTheBrain »
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Weasels wake

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Re: Nailed by a stingray today.
« Reply #1 on: December 26, 2013, 03:50:08 PM »
Steve Irwin was killed by a sting to the chest as he swam over it.
It takes a quiver to do that.

Zooport

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Re: Nailed by a stingray today.
« Reply #2 on: December 26, 2013, 04:19:08 PM »
Yeah, freakish thing that was. 
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waterman60

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Re: Nailed by a stingray today.
« Reply #3 on: December 26, 2013, 06:51:33 PM »
On any given day @ Bolsa Chica jetty you can spot large and small ones swimming  within 1 ft  of the surface.  Every since they opened the jetty the stingray population exploded on the ocean side.  They used to be trap in the estuary, now they are migrating in all directions now.  Living on the central coast now, I miss them not !  Short boarders beware of duck diving ! 

Zooport

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Re: Nailed by a stingray today.
« Reply #4 on: December 26, 2013, 07:58:54 PM »
I think I remember reading that Steve Irwin got the barb of the stingray right into his heart.   Paralyzed his cardiac muscles and had an instant heart attack.   
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hbsteve

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Re: Nailed by a stingray today.
« Reply #5 on: December 26, 2013, 08:18:40 PM »
In Newport while bodyboarding, during winter, in a full wetsuit, except gloves, I got stung on the wrist.

A full time HB lifeguard, who scuba dives near the pier, told me that the stingrays are around all year.  Most of the stepped on one are at lower tides.  They don't seek deeper water, we just enter there space.

hbsteve

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Re: Nailed by a stingray today.
« Reply #6 on: December 26, 2013, 08:19:46 PM »
In Newport while bodyboarding, during winter, in a full wetsuit, except gloves, I got stung on the wrist.

A full time HB lifeguard, who scuba dives near the pier, told me that the stingrays are around all year.  Most of the stepped on one are at lower tides.  They don't seek deeper water, we just enter there space.

Zooport

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Re: Nailed by a stingray today.
« Reply #7 on: December 26, 2013, 08:25:55 PM »
Interesting, thanks.  Yeah, it was pretty low tide when I got stung. 
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starman

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Re: Nailed by a stingray today.
« Reply #8 on: December 26, 2013, 08:48:58 PM »
If anyone was wondering the cure is hot water, as hot as you can stand, the hotter the better. Works like magic for just about any venomous fish from the sea.

Puamana4me

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Re: Nailed by a stingray today.
« Reply #9 on: December 26, 2013, 09:44:52 PM »
Hot water works sometimes , but it is not a "cure"or magic for everyone. I had a bad ray sting to foot and immersing foot(within 20 min. of sting) in very hot water did NOTHING.  Tried urine , did not work either. Intense pain for 2-3 hours. 


SUPflorida

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Re: Nailed by a stingray today.
« Reply #10 on: December 27, 2013, 04:24:41 AM »
Never been punctured  by one personally but did get slashed across the bottom of my foot once...in my family dad always had us put clear (not detergent) ammonia on any sting  from sting rays to catfish barbs, sea urchins spines, man-o-war jelly fish, wasp, bee, scorpions,spider bites....pretty much any kind of similar thing...take the lid off the container and invert it right on the site of the bite or sting for a minute...can't say what the medical community has to say about it but it has always worked for me...It needs to be done immediately after the bite or sting...doing it "later" isn't going to help. It relieves the pain very quickly. Use this advice at your own risk, but I have been in/on the water for 60 years using this technique with nothing but positive results.

RomaniaSUP

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Re: Nailed by a stingray today.
« Reply #11 on: December 27, 2013, 04:51:00 AM »
I guess ammonia could be used as a quick antiseptic? Probably wouldn't recommend it though as I suspect it destroys the white blood cells and may damage the tissue surrounding the wound.

Hot water is the ticket. The venom's protein base is heat liable. So immersing the wound in hot water for over an hour will deactivate the protein by reorganizing its tertiary structure. (like Starman said above, this works for most venomous marine life)

Saline solution would be best to clean out the wound.

And if it got infected and you were in a third world country you might want to consider taking doxycycline to treat any infections.
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Newps

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Re: Nailed by a stingray today.
« Reply #12 on: December 27, 2013, 06:32:08 AM »
There have been a crazy amount of sting rays this year in HB.  I've never seen it this bad.  In Oct and Nov. I was bumping in to them every session.  Got to the point where I was afraid to stand up in the shallows at all.  Sounds like a freak accident but I am sure it will make you paranoid for the short term.
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SUPflorida

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Re: Nailed by a stingray today.
« Reply #13 on: December 27, 2013, 06:56:45 AM »
I was referring to pain relieving/neutralizing effect of the ammonia...I don't know the chemistry behind it but something is going on...yes it may burn your skin a bit if you have sensitive skin but from my personal experience none of the medical standard methods come close to its effectiveness...Again use at your own risk ... And what works for one may not work for someone else...

I remember getting hit by a scorpion and feeling like someone shot me in the arm with a .357...I inverted a bottle of ammonia on it and a few minutes later 98% of the pain was gone, I went back to work and forgot all about it...

PonoBill

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Re: Nailed by a stingray today.
« Reply #14 on: December 27, 2013, 08:49:28 AM »
Ammonia works with acidic toxins because it combines with the acid and turns it to a salt, like NH3 + HCl → NH4Cl. How well it works depends on the nature of the sting and how much of the ammonia can reach the toxin. It is sort of a "nuclear" option but if you're flopping around in pain you should probably go for it. An acquaintance of mine tangled with a big jelly at kite beach, and two quite lovely Asian girls yanked off their bikini bottoms and peed on his chest. Worked very well for him. I felt a little left out that I hadn't been stung. But with my luck it would probably be Boyum doing the peeing.

Baking soda diluted in water is probably just as effective, though if I get strung I"m going to be looking for some cute girls.

Heat is effective with protein-based stings, but again, you need to get sufficient heat to the protein. By the time you do that you might have a third degree burn--your protein doesn't like that either.

Stingrays try to sting when they are touched--they don't have to be on the bottom and be stepped on. Their reaction depends on the environment. In places where they feel safe (stingray city for example) you can swim through a flock of them, bumping hundreds and never get a zap. Other places they act like mousetraps--one graze and bam.
« Last Edit: December 27, 2013, 08:58:07 AM by PonoBill »
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